Friday, December 07, 2012

Last we saw Johnny Damon, he was playing for Thailand in the World Baseball Classic qualifying rounds. His team was eliminated after just two games, but the 39-year-old doesn’t want his 2-for-4 performance in a 12-2 loss to New Zealand to be the last of his competitive baseball career.

“I liked being home last season with my kids. But I’m in shape and if I could play, I would,” Damon told the Boston Globe. “We’ll see what happens. I still think I have something left if I am used the right way.”

After signing with Cleveland in April, Damon played 64 games for the Indians last season before being released in August. Damon hit .222/.281/.329 with four home runs in 224 plate appearances. He’s a career .283/.352/.433 hitter and has a total of 2,769 hits in parts of 18 seasons.

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I've tried several times - using the 2012 roster set - to get some of the older fellows to milestones. I add Omar Vizquel, Ivan Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, Jamie Moyer, Bobby Abreu, and Jamie Moyer.

Damon always seems to fall apart quickest and I have yet to be able to get him to 3000 hits... Vizquel and I-Rod almost always get to 3000 hits. Vlad, I can get to 500 HRs about half the time. I get Abreu to 2500 hits usually. Moyer, I've only been able to get to 300 wins a couple times.

However, Damon inevitably falls apart -- I've only been to get him past 2900 hits one or two times and never really come close to 3000.

I think you mentioned a few months ago that we have a bet for a BP sponsorship regarding whether Damon makes it to 3,000 hits. I apparently have yes, and you have no. Am I correct about this? I don't recall the actual bet but I'm happy to honor it. Please confirm. If we make it to the All Star break and Damon remains unsigned, I will make good on the bet.

I think you mentioned a few months ago that we have a bet for a BP sponsorship regarding whether Damon makes it to 3,000 hits. I apparently have yes, and you have no. Am I correct about this? I don't recall the actual bet but I'm happy to honor it. Please confirm. If we make it to the All Star break and Damon remains unsigned, I will make good on the bet.

Sounds good. And while you have graciously not demanded proof of said wager, the thread is here if you'd like a reminder. (And no, I didn't have it bookmarked).

You mentioned this with Moyer a while ago and I gave it a try recently. I got Damon to 3000 hits by going into commissioner mode and unretiring him whenever he tried to end the misery. It took him 4 years, the last of which he spent as a DH hitting .140.

One could play deep left, the other could play shallow left. On a ball hit to the wall they could serve as a double relay, meaning that the shortstop wouldn't have to go more than 20 or 30 feet off of the infield to get the relay throw.

@ 30 - Really? This is like which sour apple do you prefer? But for 30 million less, the wicked traitor might be worth a shot.

.245 .316 .351 .667 85
.222 .281 .329 .610 73

The bottom numbers are Damon's 2012, but the Hawaiian was .255 .321 .383 .704 91 last year. And 39-for-45 stealing bases.

The Victorino signing is similar in timing to when Damon signed with the Yankees. They gave him 4 years.

Also, bringing up Victorino in reference to Damon to imply that Victorino is in irreversible decline is odd. Damon wasn't "done" after a 83 OPS+ at 27, or after a 94 OPS+ at 29, or a 96 OPS+ at 33. I'm not crazy about the Victorino signing, but when analyzing it why place so much focus on a 1/3 of a season (the numbers you quoted) rather than his whole body of work? For Damon's last 2 months with the Sox, his OPS+ was in the 80's, but that didn't mean he was about to become a terrible player.